Bruce Pearl equates Johni Broome's viral March Madness moment to Willis Reed's historic Knicks incident

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl joined Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter on Tuesday to preview the team's Final Four matchup against the Florida Gators. During the interview, Pearl compared Johni Broome’s return from injury in the Elite Eight game against the Michigan State Spartans to Willis Reed’s legendary moment in the 1970 NBA Finals.

“He comes back with five (minutes left), banks the big three, has the Willis Reed Moment," Broome said. "The State Farm Arena in Atlanta was louder than it was at Madison Square Garden when Willis Reed came through the tunnel."

Reed, who played for the New York Knicks, tore a muscle in his right leg during Game 5 of the 1970 NBA finals, missed Game 6, and then shocked the crowd by emerging from the tunnel for Game 7. His presence fired up his teammates and helped them to a championship, even scoring the first buckets for his team in Game 7.

Looking ahead to the Final Four, Pearl acknowledged the challenge ahead. According to him, Auburn would need to play “great defense, keep Florida off the boards" and “bang shots” to advance to the national championship game, where they would face either Duke or Houston.

Bruce Pearl edges out top names to win NABC Coach of the Year

Auburn’s Bruce Pearl has been named NABC Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to the Final Four in the 2024-25 season. The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced the honor on Tuesday, marking Pearl’s second time winning an NABC honor. He first earned a NABC Division II Coach of the Year honor in 1995 while coaching Southern Indiana.

Pearl edged out top names like Rick Pitino from St.Johns, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, and Missouri’s Dennis Gates for the award. Auburn dominated the rankings all season, until the conference tournaments, but stumbled late in the regular season, dropping three of their last four games before the NCAA Tournament.